Esraa Abdel Fattah

Biographical Information
"Esraa Abdel Fattah Ahmed is the Media Coordinator for the Egyptian Democratic Academy, a non-governmental organization in Cairo, Egypt.

"She is a former member of the ElGhad Liberal Party, where she served as both a member of the High Board and President of the party’s East Cairo Sector Youth Union.

"Along with Ahmed Maher, Esraa helped launch a Facebook group to promote a day of civil disobedience, known as the April 6th Youth Movement, calling for workers to stay home in protest against low wages and soaring food prices. Following the strike, which is considered the first successful campaign via the Internet in the Middle East, Esraa was arrested by the Egyptian Interior Ministry.

"Since her release, Esraa has spoken at and attended various forums worldwide in an effort to promote civic participation by youth, the use of media in campaigns, free and fair elections, as well as political reform in the Middle East and North Africa region.

"Esraa received the New Generation Democratic Activist Award from Freedom House in June 2010." \

"Ms. Israa Abd Al Fatah Rashed is the Media Coordinator at the Egyptian Democratic Academy. The Academy runs Almahrousa, an online radio which is very popular among Egyptian youth. Creator of the April 6 Strike Group on Facebook in March 2008, she organized a strike in support of workers in Mahalla al-Kobra that led to her arrest and sentencing of two-weeks in jail. It was the first arrest order of its kind issued to a woman by the Egyptian Interior Ministry. The success of the strike, the size of the Facebook group – over 70,000 members - and the notoriety she received for her jail term made her a well-known figure throughout Egypt and among human rights activists. Her blog focuses on human rights violations in Egypt, with a critical perspective on workers‟rights. Prior to her current position, she was the Senior Human Resources Specialist for Harf Information Technology."

Israa Abdel-Fattah, a founder of the April 6 Group.

"Israa Abdel Fattah is above all a civil rights militant, involved with numerous associations, including the Egyptian Democratic Academy. This NGO is financed by the German Friedrich Nauman Foundation for Freedom, and trains young people in media production (radio, video and blogs), and in basic organization administration, legal procedures and election monitoring. "


 * Attendee, Dialogue on Reform in the Arab World

Related Sourcewatch

 * Ahmed Maher